| abstract | - The Third Army was a long prophecised group of soldiers that were stated to replace the Green Lantern Corps. Its existence was mentioned within the Book of The Black that stated that the greatest threat to the Green Lanterns would come from the Guardians of the Universe. After the Guardians had decided to bring order to the cosmos, they created the mechanical Manhunters as their agents until the machines were sabotaged by Krona. Following them, they decided that organic sentients would serve them in the form of the Green Lantern Corps. Unknown to the Oans, the existence of this prophecy was known to Abin Sur who intended to stop the threat posed by his masters. Thus, he helped form the Indigo Tribe with the intention of using the light of Compassion to stop them. Though Abin Sur died, the Tribe he founded would continue to live on Nok with the goal of fulfilling their founders purpose. Ultimately, the resultant conflicts such as the Sinestro Corps War, the War of Light, The Blackest Night and the War of The Green Lanterns led the Guardians to determine that the Green Lanterns were similarly flawed. As a result, after the defeat of Krona, they brainwashed Ganthet who reported that their suspicions were correct and that they needed to move to the next step of their plans. To accomplish this goal, they required The First Lantern in order to use his power to bring about the rise of The Third Army who would be the successors of the Green Lantern Corps. However, the Oans knew of the opposition they would face from the various Corps and thus took measures to eliminate that threat. Among their initial actions was the expulsion of Hal Jordan who had overridden his Green Lantern Power Ring which he used to kill Krona. After that, they indirectly inducted Sinestro into the Green Lantern Corps whilst claiming that they were unable to remove the Green Power Ring that had selected the Korugarian. Using Sinestro, they had him forcibly disband his own Sinestro Corps who were taken prisoner in the Sciencells. In addition, they had attempted to apprehend Kyle Rayner who had been selected by various Power Rings from the various Corps and gone rogue where he formed an incarnation of the New Guardians. Furthermore, they used events to turn the Alpha Lantern Corps against the rest of their comrades thus forcing John Stewart and Guy Gardner to destroy the cyborgs. Whilst this was happening, they plotted events to ensure that the two Earth Lanterns would be separated and eliminated. Finally, they helped bring about the resurrection of Abysmus and tasked him with destroying his "creator" Atrocitus and the Red Lantern Corps. With all these measures done, the Guardians moved to The Chamber of Shadows that was guarded by their kin known as The Hidden Ones who guarded the First Lantern. The Guardians ultimately had to fight the Hidden Ones and forcibly remove the prison of the First Lantern which they took to Earth. Once there, they began to siphon part of his energy and their forms bristled with power. This energy was then used in conjunction with their flesh to create an organic construct that served their will with this being serving as the first of the Third Army. This entity was composed of Oan flesh but completely subject to their will and had the ability to replicate by transforming other sentients into copies of itself. The entity demonstrated this by conducting such an act on a nearby human that had come to investigate thus creating a new member of the Third Army. Thus, the Guardians commanded their servants to build their number in order to wage war against the other Corps and bring about the order that they desired for the universe.
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